Erlapiku

Erlapiku is a rock-cut hypogeum in Bizkaia, Spain, in the Gamiz-Fika municipality. It lies underground at the site of Atxispeko San Pedro hermitage. The site was discovered in June 2025 and announced publicly that September.

The structure has an entrance and a staircase leading inside. Its underground chamber is oval-shaped and measures 5x2x1,75 metres. Five panels preserve painted decoration made with red pigment, in two types, and black pigment. At least 25 human figures appear on the walls, including one more naturalistic figure.

Two scenes stand out. One contains black human figures arranged in an orderly row. The other shows seven figures painted in bright red, also placed in a line, all with raised arms and divided into three types of figure. Other schematic forms include repeated shapes and additional figures represented only by a few body parts.

Erlapiku has been dated to between 5.000 BC and 1.000 BC, and may belong to the early farming societies of the Neolithic or perhaps the beginning of the Copper or Bronze Age. Archaeologist Joseba Rios-Garaizar noted parallels with sites in Kantauri and Araba, but Erlapiku forms a larger group and its artificial cave is especially distinctive. Because the site cannot be visited normally, 3D digital models were created.

Erlapiku is a hypogeum (rock-cut) in Gamiz-Fika, Spain. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the Basque article "Erlapiku", shown in the original language.